QUETTA: At least seven persons were injured Saturday when gunmen opened fire on a rally of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) here at Liaquat Baazar, downtown area of the provincial capital, police said.

Deputy Inspector General Police Operations Fayyaz Sumbal said unknown motorcyclists opened fire at a crowd in the bazaar, injuring seven people, including a child.

Sumbal said the injured were rushed to hospitals for medical treatment. He added that the assailants had managed to escape from the site of the incident.

Soon after the shooting, leaders and workers of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) reached Civil Hospital Quetta and staged a sit-in to protest against the incident.

Reacting to the incident ASWJ activists also blocked Jinnah Road.

The ASWJ has announced it will take out further demonstrations on Sunday blocking all major national highways linking Quetta to Karachi, Jacobabad, Taftan and Afghanistan.